Last year a friend of mine who works at a local brewery hooked me up with some 35 gallon barrels and I made some planters from them. A couple evenings ago, Steve, who is building a greenhouse next door and could use some planters, and I made four more from another bunch. I grew raspberries in a couple of these last year, and they worked great. Loaded with dirt they are about the max of what I can move by myself, so they're a perfect size and can take a lot of roots. A 50 pound bag of dirt fills them with some room at the top to spare. This year I'm using them for acorn and butternut squash, chicory, and potatoes. Yeah, I already have a raised bed of potatoes, but I'm going to use one of these as a bit of a potato barrel experiment for fun.
This is how to make my barrel planters:
Enjoy!
Image credit: Cale Ruiz
This is how to make my barrel planters:
- Use food grade plastic barrels. These are made of HDPE (high density polyethylene) and won't leach chemicals or dyes into your soil.
- Cut the top quarter or third off the barrel with a jigsaw, using a pilot hole made with a 3/8" drill bit. (This is messy, so cut over a surface you can sweep up.)
- Use a wood rasp to clean up the cut edge - this just takes off the jagged plastic bits and smooths things out. Plus it sounds cool.
- Drill four holes in the bottom for drainage
- Drill handle holes on each side (use the same 3/8" drill bit)
- Use 3/8" rope to make the handles.
Enjoy!
Image credit: Cale Ruiz